TRACY TALKS

YOU ARE ENOUGH. ONE LONELY APPLE

BY NICOLE HEROUX WILLIAMS I PHOTOS BY NSP STUDIO BY TRACY SIMONE

My back yard makes fun of me. Well, maybe not the entire yard, but certain plants in it certainly do. If I listen very carefully, I swear I hear them laughing. I have been trying to garden for years and each growing season, I start over and get excited for what could possibly be. you have spent the season nurturing.

At the rate I am going, I could starve to death! I love eating fresh food and there is nothing better than being able to step outside and pick something as part of that day’s meal. Be it kale, lettuce, tomatoes, corn, a cucumber or whatever…. it is always so much tastier than the “franken-food” they offer at the grocery store. Who even knows what that expensive stuff has been treated with? Most of the “produce” was picked before it was ripe and then shipped in from somewhere far away. Many people have also touched it. Yikes. So, on to my tale of woe. More than once, there has been a plum or something that I have watched like a hawk. After several years of patiently waiting on these fruit trees, there may only be one or two things to harvest at

The better choice is usually a local farmers market. However, even with that, you still have no clue about what pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers were used on the food before it got to you. UGH.

So, back to trying to grow your own. Not only is it a hobby, but it is also like a game. However, it is a total crap shoot whether you will get to eat what first. Maybe there will be more next year. You watch it every day, watering, inspecting, and caring for it like it is your baby. Tomorrow, it will be ready. Yes, peak readiness. Tomorrow, I will pick it and I can’t wait! Oh noooooo! Tomorrow came and it was gone! Some chipmunk, squirrel, or bird has not only violated your space, but ate the whole thing! One little tear wants to run down your face! This scene has repeated itself more than once at my house. It’s almost like craving something that you left in the refrigerator but someone else got to it first. You had plans for it, but they beat you to it. Damn!

This is much worse though….. you babied that food in the yard. You prepared the beds in the Spring and watered and fed it all through the summer. These animals have no respect! They are hungry too and while I always try to plant enough for everyone knowing that the little thieves will come, it is an insult to lose that single piece of fruit that managed to grow on the tree this year! I feel like a little kid after someone took my toy!

Then, it finally happened. We had a frost overnight that slammed the door on the growing season. For anyone with a garden, this is usually a sad day. Hopefully, everyone harvested everything they wanted before the deep freeze happened. One day, things are still hanging in there looking lush and the next morning, oops…. all tomato vines, eggplants, summer squash, and most flowers have given up the ghost.

“Mason jars scare me. So, everything gets sentenced to the freezer or the blender as part of a smoothie. That included that apple.”

The greens like collards and mustards taste better after the frost hits them. So, you tell yourself that it is ok that it started getting cold outside. Once again, you have lied to yourself. Let’s face it….you are sad to not have any more tomatoes. Now, instead of robbing you, the critters are gathering acorns and nuts for the winter. They’re done with you and don’t even want YOUR food any more.

This year, I actually had the best garden that I have ever had. I can’t take the credit though because we had so many rainy days and alternating hot days that things had no choice but to grow. I rolled the dice and got lucky with some things.

People who garden know that it can be a huge source of frustration. Why is it that one year, you have more cucumbers than you can deal with and the next year, you are lucky if you even get 3? Why was there only one apple on that tree I planted several years ago? At least it had one. Its companion tree had zero. I had a single sunflower in my yard this season even though I plant them every year too. The wild animals must have missed this one seed and somehow let it grow.

Next year, we’ll try again. Maybe there will be TWO apples and I will even get to eat both of them. A girl can dream. In the meantime, I will study up on how to can food. I have all the equipment, but I am too afraid to try it. Somehow, I think I will poison myself if I try to can or preserve something. Mason jars scare me. So, everything gets sentenced to the freezer or the blender as part of a smoothie. That included that apple.